Microfluidics allows for the production of droplets with a precise control and reproducibility over the experiment's parameters. This precise control enables the generation of size-controlled and high monodispersity droplets. Droplets generation has a large scale of applications, such as emulsion production, single cell analysis, drug delivery or nanoparticles synthesis. Droplets can also be used as micro bioreactors for chemical or biochemical reactions.
Droplet generators are excellent tools for generating highly reproducible microsized droplets with much higher precision and repeatability compared to conventional methods. This technology has been well developed and utilized as a quantitative biomedical research tool. The disclosed technology is a syringe-pump free portable droplet generator designed to generate droplets by on-chip micropump array and programmable for different sized droplet generation. Conventional droplet generators require bulky syringe pumps and tubing which results in them being heavy and large in dimension (up to 100 lb and 2×2×2 feet in dimensions). As a result of the heavy weight and large dimension, conventional droplet generators are limited to specific on-site point of care diagnostics.
Currently, no syringe-free portable droplet generator exist designed to generate droplets by on-chip micropump array and programmable for different sized droplet generation. Most conventional droplet generation system is made up of syringe pumps with continues flow of liquids to create the droplets. As a result, throughput-multiplexing capability of these traditional droplet generators are limited by number of syringe pumps.
Despite advances in the art, there remains a need to improve point of care testing capabilities for the microfluidic chip platform.